WVAS Local News

The Alabama State University committee that was formed to help find a new president has delayed a decision on whether to hire a private firm to assist with the search. ASU Board of Trustees, President Elton said that a decision would be made at the committee's next meeting. Some committee members say hiring a search firm will be expensive. The new leader will replace former President Joseph Silver.

Lawsuit Dismissed

A judge has dismissed a family's lawsuit against the University of South Alabama over a campus police officer's fatal shooting of a naked student. A Mobile County judge ruled Friday that state law makes the school exempt from the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of 18-year-old freshman Gil Collar. The judge says the lawsuit can go forward against the university's police chief. A university police officer shot and killed the Wetumpka teenager outside the police station in October. Authorities say Collar was nude and appeared to be on drugs, and he threatened the officer. The lawsuit says the shooting was unjustified. The family also is suing the officer who fired the fatal shot.

Synthetic Marijuana

Smoking synthetic marijuana has been linked to kidney injury. That's according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. AL.com reports UAB researchers conducted four case studies involving four young men who smoked synthetic marjuana, known as Spice or K2, and suffered kidney injuries afterward.

New SUV

Officials with automaker Mercedes-Benz say they plan to add a totally new sport utility vehicle model to its production line in Alabama. The Tuscaloosa News reports the new model will most likely be added in 2015. The chairman of the company's parent firm, Daimler A.G., told shareholders meeting this week in that the fifth model destined for Mercedes' sole U.S. auto assembly would be an SUV. The chairman says preparations for productions of another SUB are being made at its plant in Vance, about 20 miles east of Tuscaloosa.